Saint Louis

Abstract

This chapter discusses the way in which the crusader King Louis IX of France was remembered and became an exemplar for Britain and Ireland in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It looks at the popularity of stories and poetry about Saint Louis, including as a subject for the Oxford Newdigate Prize in 1873. It also considers the availability of key medieval sources for this period, such as Joinville’s history and what contemporaries might have read about the French crusades. At the same time, audiences would have seen dramatisations of Louis’s story and performances of operas inspired by his life. This period also saw major conflicts – the Crimean War, the Boer War, and, of course, the First World War. For all of these Louis IX was seen as an exemplar, chosen to commemorate the noble sacrifice of those who lost their lives, and there are examples of war memorials featuring Louis throughout Britain and Ireland. The chapter looks in particular at the stained-glass windows designed by Christopher Wall and how he selected and depicted his subjects. In this way, Siberry demonstrates the appropriation of a traditionally ‘French’ national hero by the British, complicating simple associations and uses of heroes.